#TBT JAY Z & BEYONCE ON THE RUN TOUR

What a difference a week makes! In my last post I shared my two-cents on Drake’s Duppy Freestyle. A mere 5 hours later (of course), Pusha T responded with The Story of Adidon and all bets were completely off. And I thought Drake was petty…Pusha was down right disrespectful! So disrespectful that it led Drake to write a press release...in a rap battle. That’s unheard of in hip hop but King Push took it there! I should have known better that an OG like Pusha would remind all of us what time it was.

I stan for Drake, it’s no secret, but not even the most bias opinion can save him this time. If you’ve been following the story in the last week (it’s impossible not too) it looks like Drake may bow out gracefully, but with that new album around the corner, who knows what can happen!

Anyway, I’ve been running back in forth between Toronto and Mississauga for the last two days so I haven’t had the chance to sit down to blog this week. That said, I’m taking the opportunity to give you a little throwback!

If you’ve followed anything I’ve ever done, then you know I love me some Jay Z & Beyonce! This week they kicked of the On The Run IITour in Cardiff, U.K., a sequel to their infamous On The Run Tour in 2014. In honour of my favourite power couple, below is my HipHopCanada review from their show in Winnipeg (summer 2014). I still can’t believe this was almost four years ago! It’s still uncertain that I’ll be able to catch this sequel tour (sadly there isn’t a date in Toronto) but I’m praying I will find a way to catch their show in Vancouver or another North American city. Time will tell, stay tuned!

I hope you enjoy this throwback, comment below if you do!

XO

Rosa

Winnipeg, MB – I’ll be honest: when the rumours started circulating that Jay Z and Beyoncé were set to tour together this summer, I didn’t believe it. For starters, when the talk about the tour began to brew (this spring), Beyoncé had just finished the Mrs. Carter World Tour (which was just shy of a year-long). Jay had been on the low since he wrapped up the Magna Carter World Tour in January; but the whole idea was just too good to be true! However, it’s Jay and Bey. To think that they wouldn’t pull a fast one on us like that, would just be silly. So off I go to the Investors Group Field, for the On the Run Tour.

On July 27, Winnipeg was the second of two Canadian stops on the tour (you can read the review from Toronto’s show here). I was surprised when the Winnipeg date was announced, as cities like Vancouver and Montreal (along with Toronto) are usually the candidates for big headliners such as Jay and Bey. But when I walked into that brand new stadium, I understood why. Well done, Winnipeg!

It was the perfect venue for a stadium show, and luckily the weather was perfect too. The lights went down just as the sun was starting to set. This was followed by massive screams and applause of excitement from the 50,000-plus crowd. The smoke cleared and the Carters slowly emerge from the back of the stage.

Bey was decked out in a sexy sequenced fishnet body suit with a matching balaclava (no other could pull that off than King Bey). Jay kept it Jay with (almost) all-black everything; from his toque to his Timbs. Peeking through his black blazer was a custom black-and-white American flag tee and gold chains that you could see from the second level of the stadium.

“You ready Bey,?” Jay Z bellowed into the mic, as they kicked off the show with “’03 Bonnie and Clyde.” Definitely a smart choice considering the theme of the tour; the entire On the Run production was so Bonnie and Clyde-esque, that is was movie.The only discrepancy I had during the show, was the sound quality. It was hard to tell if it was coming from the speakers or the mic (at times it sounded like both). But the muffling of the vocals made it difficult to hear which song was being played until a few seconds in.

Jay and Bey went back and forth, taking the stage to perform classic after classic. From Jay’s “PSA,” “Big Pimpin,” “I Just Want to Love You,” “Hard Knock Life,” and “On to the Next One” (and that’s just scratching the surface). As for Beyoncé – well – as much as Jay smashed his alone time on-stage, it was all about Bey. Her voice, the costumes, the dancing, the hair, and those hips! It’s a tough act to follow. She had us in the palm of her hands with hits like; “Run the World,” “Single Ladies,” “Baby Boy,” “Flawless,” and “Partition” (again – just scratching the surface of their 40-song set).

Despite all those awful “are they or aren’t they” rumours floating around this tour, the highlights of the show were when Jay Z and Beyoncé shared the stage together. “Upgrade U,” “Tom Ford,” “Crazy in Love” and (everyone’s obsession at the moment) “Drunk in Love”; you can’t deny the chemistry between the two power-houses. Bey and her squad even stepped up as back up dancers, while Jay spit his verse in “Clique” (picture that – just picture it).

As much as we could have watched them all night, the two-and-a-half-hour set had to come to an end. The Carters closed the night off together with “On the Run II,” “Halo,” “Forever Young,” and “Lift Off.” During the medley of songs; a montage of intimate moments between Jay, Bey and little Blue Ivy appeared on the jumbotron. A rare thing to see, given that the couple is notoriously private with their personal life. But it was beautifully done. The entire production was brilliant. It’s obvious that the world has an obsession with “The Carters”; and on that Sunday night they proved to fans and critics alike, why they’re that force not to be reckoned with.